Confused relationships
by the Prince's Jewel
Summary: a choice of fathers.
1. It Begins

Disclaimer: And I need one why?

RIVALS

"Why do you avoid me?"

"I don't like to fight with you." She juggled packages that threatened to topple. "Besides, I like to shop!"

"I want us to talk," he told her quietly. "Every time I have tried to find out what horrible thing I have done this time, you scream at me to shut up, then huff off."

Blue eyes narrowed dangerously. Her packages were carefully placed on the hall bench. Her hands hit her hips. "Are you saying that I'm _huffy_?" she demanded.

__

Not again, Vegeta groaned. _I don't want to fight with her._ His mouth, naturally, said, "You are huffy."

"I. Am. Not. Huffy." She bit out each work, battle lights sparkling in her eyes.

His own eyes narrowed, becoming darker as he fought to stay reasonable. "This is what I mean. I want us to talk. We're fighting."

"And that's my fault?"

The shrill tone hurt his ears, just as the scent she wore annoyed his nose. "I do not want to fight with you, woman."

"My name is not woman." A finger waggled under his nose. "You know my name is not woman!"

He sighed, and reached out to capture the finger. "I know. I don't want us to fight. I want… peace."

"Peace?" She laughed, a touch of mockery ringing in the bell-like tones. "It's a really good thing you aren't an ambassador or something. We'd always be at war!"

That was the last straw. He pulled her firmly against himself, capturing her mouth. The kiss was savage, passionate, demanding. And she fought. As she always did, now. She never surrendered willingly to his touch anymore, never stayed long near him. She rarely shared their bed, sleeping in the labs instead. His anger flared, he fought her struggles with his passion, his strength. Words wouldn't do, and this time he was not going to accept defeat. She would not - _must not _- deny him again. He tried to show through actions what he couldn't seem to express in words. He _needed_ her, loved her. She didn't listen, so he would show her.

Her struggles grew sporadic as her body began to respond to him. Years of experience went into her seduction, and finally she stopped fighting. She became pliant, but only her body answered his passion and surrendered to his need. She did not. Vegeta realized that when he saw the tears streaming from tightly closed eyes. He stepped back from her, straightened his clothes and then her own with gentle hands.

"I…" He could think of nothing to say in the face of this obvious rejection. Vegeta turned, striding as quickly as he could without running to the one place where he would be left alone. And once there, he threw himself single-mindedly back into his unnecessary training regime. Anything to ease the pain of this total failure.

"I hate him. I hate him!"

"Hate who?"

She whirled, then relaxed. "Oh, it's you."

"You hate me?" A perplexed look crossed the young man's face. "How come?"

"I don't hate you. I hate him." She waved vaguely towards her house.

"Vegeta?" he hazarded.

"Who else?" Another tight circle, stomping off her frustration.

He held open his arms, an invitation. She paused only a moment before rushing to him, collapsing into his arms. He held her a moment, feeling her tears soaking through his shirt. "Want to talk about it?"

There was a long silence. "Not really. I think my father is insane."

Eyebrows raised in surprise, the man replied, "But I thought that was an established fact!"

She giggled, he relaxed. "Oh, it is. They just call him eccentric to be nice. I think… I think he's getting senile, though. I saw him…"

The silence lengthened while he tried to puzzle that out. "You saw him go senile?"

"No, you big dolt!" She knocked him upside the head with the ease of long friendship and familiarity.

"I don't get it." A normal complaint for him.

She looped her arms around his waist, leaned her head against his broad chest. "My family is weird. Eccentric, I guess. Scientists always in their labs, warriors always training, shopaholics never home. I don't know what I mean."

"You forgot the bubble brains," he informed her helpfully.

"I said the shopaholics were never home," was her tart rejoinder.

"Oh. Bunny's still shopping?"

"Bunny will die shopping," the blue-haired woman replied flatly. "And then, she will go to shopper's heaven."

"Is there such a place?"

She looked up to see a face full of astonished wonder. "You dolt! Oh, I forgot the womanizer. Trunks has yet another girlfriend."

"Does that make you upset? And," his voice dropped plaintively, "am I really a big dolt?"

"You're just a big of a dolt as Trunks is. You're just nicer. Give me a kiss?"

"Okay." He pecked her nose. "Better?"

"Not really."

"Not really? But why not? Because Trunks has another new girlfriend?" he teased.

"No, idiot!" She pulled him down, kissed him. "It's got nothing to do with Trunks. I'm just having a really bad day."

"Want to go swimming? I do have a pool at my place."

"Oh? Since when?" She didn't release him, instead pulling him down for another kiss. Strong lips met her own and hesitantly returned the kiss.

"Put it in a couple days ago." His lips brushed hers. "We shouldn't do this."

"Why?" She swept her tongue across his lips, kissing him lightly when he gasped with surprise.

"But… Vegeta…" he protested. "He'll kill me!"

"Vegeta," she said, pressing herself against the taller man, "can't complain about a kiss or two."

"I suppose not." He met her lips with his teeth, nipping lightly.

They went far beyond a kiss.

"Hi Goten!"

"Bra! Hey, the new pool's waiting! Come on," the young demi-Saiyan urged. "I want to see this new suit Pan's been trying to describe."

"Pan! You told him?"

"Not me! I just said you bought some new suit that looked like a dishrag."

"PAAANNN!" Bra threw a towel at her laughing friend. "It does not look like a dishrag!"

"You never saw some of the stuff Mom used to use for dishrags," Goten informed her. "Pan could be right. Go get changed. Are your folks coming?"

"You know perfectly well my dad will be here to make sure I don't decide to marry you, you dolt!" Bra gave Goten a quick kiss on her way inside. "He'd be appalled if I did such a thing!"

"Oh, of course," Goten replied. "Assuming I'd ever marry you!"

She stopped, took the three steps to get back to him, and glared at him. "Are you trying to imply that I'm not wedding material?"

"And have to live with your father?" Goten asked in mock terror. "No way!" He bent his head, kissing her until Pan and Trunks started making gagging noises. He released her then. "Besides, he'd hate having my kids underfoot all the time."

Bra shot a look at the red-haired twins making mincemeat of the dinner that was laid out. "No, he'd hate trying to beat them to the food on a daily basis! Where's your ex-wife, anyway?"

"Paris?" Goten's happy expression vanished. "Ah… she's got no interest in being around a bunch of savages."

"What?!" Pan dashed over to her beloved uncle. "Are you serious? She said that? That…"

Bra darted into the house to avoid hearing the rest. "Hi Goku! Thanks for throwing a pool party for us."

"Well, why have a pool and not use it?" Goku replied, grinning. "Are you going to swim in that?"

"NO! I have a brand new bikini. Is there anyone in the bathroom?"

Goku groaned. "Is there anyone not in my bathroom?" he complained. "Go change in my room. It's empty."

He grasped her hips, groaning as she moved over him. Her movements drew him to the edge, threw him over. He recovered slowly. "Your father will kill me."

"Little late for that, lover." She sat up, smiled down at him. "Besides, he can't say anything more than your father."

"My father?!" Dark eyes clouded in confusion. "Why would he say anything?"

"That's just it," the blue haired beauty above him retorted, "your father wouldn't say a thing."

"I… oh…" The thought he'd been trying to form faded as she began moving again. "Love you."

His father _couldn't_ say anything about their relationship, he realized later, since he didn't know about it. But, he was pretty sure his father would have a lot to say about the situation, and not a bit of it encouraging. And after careful consideration, he determined his brother wouldn't be encouraging, either.

He pushed against the ground, swinging lazily in the hammock as he thought about it. He'd never meant to get into that relationship, in fact, he wasn't entirely sure how it had come about. Adult or not, she was years younger than he! And he… he had other responsibilities.

He shot a guilty look at his children. They should be his first priority. What had he been thinking, to start such a thing? To allow it to start? He wasn't really sure which. And why in the world was he letting it continue?

__

"Do you like that?" Her hands, running eagerly across his body as she writhed under him. "Or this?" His surprise as she twisted so that she was on top.

Okay, so he knew why it continued. She was an addiction. The hammock continued to sway.

"KAKAROT!" Vegeta yelled in the other's ear.

"AHHH!" Goku tumbled from his seat to the ground. "What'd I do?"

"I want you to come spar with me," Vegeta informed him. "But can I get your attention? Noooo. You're off in dreamland."

Goku stuck his hand behind his head, a sheepish smile escaping. "Sorry Vegeta. You wanted to spar?"

"Yes, fool, I want to spar." Vegeta was silent a moment. "I want you to go all out. I do not want you holding back."

"But, Vegeta!" The look in the other's eyes silenced him. "Have you made it up to three yet?"

"No, and I won't if you keep coddling me. Now, let's go."

They fought for a few hours. "Kakarot?"

"What?"

"How did you get your woman to always want to have you come home?"

Goku paused in midair, assuming his thinking pose. "Um… I'm not really sure. I wasn't trying to make her want me home. I had too much stuff to do that meant I had to be gone."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," Vegeta recited, then snorted. "I think not." He caught Goku still off-guard, and sent him plummeting to the ground. He'd think of some way to win Bulma back, without the clown's help.

Vegeta bent over the small disks, etching each with careful precision. The emblem of the royal house of Vegeta was slowly being carved from the light blue turquoise, to be set against the darker piece. He'd been at the task for two months now, and had them almost completed. They would make a fine gift for his wife. He only hoped she would appreciate them.

He paused in his work to look blindly out the small window. Bulma had barely spoken to him since that night in the hall, and he wasn't sure if the earrings he labored over would help his cause or not. His awkward apology had been met with cold silence. He'd finally decided to give her a gift… one that would both show her how he valued her, and how much he really did love her.

"Oh, come on, Bra. You know your father could never mistake you for your mother! You're much too young!"

"Mother makes it a point to look young. I could fool him, if it was worth my while."

"You're the richest girl in town. What would it take?"

Bra examined her fingernails thoughtfully. She looked around at her friends, following their gaze to her big brother. A mischievous grin crossed her face. "If I can do it, you all have to beg my brother to eat his cooking!"

"EWWWW!" But the deal was made.

Hmmdeedum… will Vegeta manage to mistake his daughter for his wife? And will Bulma accept his gift? Along with all those other interesting questions….


	2. Confusion

Okay, we continue. And hopefully, this uploads with formatting intact. I am trying html this time around, as all my italics disappear otherwise. Sigh. I found this out the hard way… and have to replace everything I've managed to upload so far. So, if you read one of my confusing stories, try again. It might make more sense this time around….

Disclaimer: Um, sure. Sue away. I got nothing.

"My birthday's tomorrow, you know."

"Is it really?"

"Yes."

"Hmmm… does that mean you want a present?" Goku propped his chin on his hands. "I'm not too good at picking out presents."

"Oh, I know that! But, you will get me something won't you?" Bra wheedled.

He laughed, chucking her under the chin. "I'll come up with something. I suppose there'll be a party?"

"With lots and lots and lots of food," she laughed.

"REALLY?" Goku sat straight up, all his attention suddenly focused on her.

"Yes, Goku, really! You're invited. I'm going to be eighteen."

He blinked. "Eighteen. Gosh, has it really been that long? Your mom must really be getting old!"

"Goku! You just saw her yesterday. Did she look old to you?"

"I did, didn't I? Nope, she still looks really pretty in a bikini." Bra fell out of her chair, clutching her sides and trying to catch her breath between giggles. "Not that there was a whole lot to that bikini. I wonder why she doesn't like to go skinny-dipping with me anymore?" Goku mused. 

"DAAD!" Goten yelped, prying Bra up from off the floor she'd flattened herself to. "You don't say stuff like that!"

"Why not? We used to skinny-dip all the time. At least, until your father got involved with her we did. I wonder if he's why she doesn't like to do it anymore?"

Bra leaned against Goten, giggling helplessly. Goku looked like he actually expected an answer! Finally, she got control of herself. "Dad's pretty possessive. I imagine she didn't want him getting jealous of you and fighting with you over her."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"You wore them."

Bra looked up. Her father sounded happy, but she had no idea why. "Mrffle?" she asked through a mouthful of pancake.

"The earrings." Vegeta reached out, brushing her cheek gently. "The ones I made. The emblem of the royal house."

"You made them! Mother didn't tell me that! Oh, thank you, Daddy! They were a wonderful birthday surprise."

He staggered away from her. "Your… mother?" he asked, one hand creeping over his heart.

"She gave them to me this morning for my birthday." Bra watched the blood drain from her father's face before he whirled and ran from the room. "Oh… oh, no!" she whispered, understanding. "Mother, how could you!"

"Why are you crying? Did I hurt you?"

"No, love. No. You could never hurt me." She reached up, pulling him down. "It's Vegeta… I'm worried about him."

He slid from her body, reaching for his clothes. "How come?"

"There's something wrong with him. He's been too quiet, even for him."

"What? Vegeta being too quiet?" He frowned. "Huh. I didn't know that was even possible!"

"It's possible. The GR was running when I left, but there weren't any flashes or explosions or anything going on. I did peek in the window, he was just sitting in the middle of the floor."

"Meditation, probably."

"I… don't know. That earring business really shook him up. Maybe I shouldn't have…"

"It's too late for maybes. Do you want me to talk to him?"

"Would you?"

"Hey Vegeta!" Goku walked into the GR. "Hey! Are you in here?" He paused, waiting for an answer that didn't come. "Well, that's funny. Bulma said he was in here. It's running. So where is he?"

"Kakarot."

Goku looked up. "Oh, there you are!"

"Go away."

"But… I wanted to talk to you!"

"Not interested." Vegeta returned to his contemplation of the ceiling.

"Look, if you're still upset about those earrings…"

"What do you know about that?" Vegeta snarled, shoving the taller Saiyan up against the wall.

"I…" Goku's brain scrambled for a reason to know that wouldn't get him killed, "know Bulma gave them to Bra. And that you made them for Bulma. I think she thought you made them for her to give to Bra for her birthday."

"What?" Vegeta relaxed his grip slightly. "Why would she think that?"

"Maybe because you gave them to her in a box wrapped in birthday paper the night before Bra's birthday?"

"Oh." It made sense, put like that. But he'd told her they were for her… hadn't he? He hadn't known the rose patterned paper was for birthdays, though. "I… see." He let Goku go.

"Yeah, anyway, you want to spar?"

"Oh, sure. Why not?"

"He really did mistake her for her mother. It was heart-rending," the blond informed the others. "He was all shocked and horrified."

"Oh, that's not good. Now we have to go beg Trunks to cook for us."

"This is going to be so embarrassing!"

Bra listened to her friends' rambling as the talk turned to her brother's magnificent body. That didn't interest her! Her mind wandered. She'd been delighted that her mother had remembered her birthday - she'd forgotten more than once. But the tiny golden package had contained a gift for her mother, not for her. She didn't think she'd ever be able to forget the look of… of… the look on her father's face when he had realized that it was she, and not her mother, who wore them.

She reached up to touch the tiny disks she wore. The emblem of the royal house, wasn't that what he'd said? Her father had never forgotten his rightful position as a Prince, never let anything - including virtual slavery and the destruction of his people- take away his pride in what he was. He'd been a mere child when Frieza had taken him, yet he had carried with him the memory of the emblem she now wore for all these years.

"Earth to Bra! Wake up, honey! Which of your sweeties are you thinking of now?"

The mocking voice snapped her from her trance. "Hey! Are you implying that I have a string of boys or something?"

"Well, you do. This latest one is really cute. Haven't I seen him with your brother?"

"Um, yeah. Hey… I gotta go." Bra bolted from her chair, her stomach in a sudden uproar.

"Sick again? Hey, maybe you ought to see a doctor," Goten said with sincere concern.

"I hate doctors."

"Even Gohan?"

Bra blinked. "Oh, that's right. I forgot about him being a doctor since everyone always calls him Professor." Another bout of nausea ripped through her. "Him, I'll go see."

"Well, actually, he'll be here in about fifteen minutes, he was coming by for lunch."

"Great. I'm going to go lay down." Which she did, immediately. And when she finally woke up two hours later, Gohan was waiting for her. "Mrmmhm?"

"Goten said you were sick."

"To be blunt, I feel like hell." Bra stretched, turning to face Gohan. "What's that look for?"

"Oh, I… just can't think of much that would make one of us sick.." He pulled the pencil from behind his ear, rummaged through the bag he'd set on the floor for some paper and a thermometer. "So, how about we find out what you've got?"

A flurry of punches at his invisible nemesis. Kicks that would have decapitated anyone standing before him. He forced himself to his limits over and over, to fall to the floor exhausted. He allowed himself no rest even then, making himself rise again, no matter how weak he felt, no matter how badly he wanted to sleep. He fought against the drones in gravity higher than he ever had, rising slower and more shakily each time.

And no matter how hard he fought, he couldn't forget what he had overheard. A drone blasted him in the face, he fell, blood streaming from another wound. He forced his arms to take his weight, his knees to bend preparatory to rising. Three more drones fired in rapid succession, each scoring a head shot. Vegeta slumped to the floor.

_"I just could not believe the look on your dad's face! I mean, he really thought you were your mom!"_

"It was just because of those earrings. He was paying more attention to them than me."

"Oh, but they're gorgeous. Was that real gold they were wrapped in?"

"Of course not, ninny! Just gold colored foil. My mother doesn't gift-wrap in gold. Can we get off this subject? You have to go do your begging now. Trunks is even in the kitchen now."

Vegeta moaned, one hand moving weakly to his forehead, coming away sticky with blood. _"Too weak to keep a woman, Vegeta? Don't worry. You won't need one now."_ "No!" Vegeta lurched to his feet, blinking away the blood haze in his eyes. He spun in a complete circle, searching for the owner of the voice. "I won't. I won't let it happen!" He tripped over his own feet, landing heavily on his side. "Leave me alone!" A ki blast tore from his palm, exploding harmlessly against the wall of the GR.

He felt the gravity ease, heard the door open. "Hey, Dad? Lunch is ready."

"I can't keep doing this." She stroked the strong angles of his face, tears slipping down her cheeks.

"I know."

"How can you be so calm about this?"

He sighed. "I'm not calm. I'm frustrated. I love you. But…"

"I know, I know. It's my own fault for staying with him. I should leave him, get everything out in the open."

"That would be nice. I don't like sneaking around like this."

"I love you, I do. It's just that… oh, I don't know anymore! He hurt me so badly. I just wanted to forget about it, forget about him." Her blue eyes filled with tears. "Now it's so complicated."

"Love isn't supposed to be complicated. It's supposed to be simple. It should be us, together. Why can't we be together?"

She was silent a long time, her head buried against him. "Because I'm afraid."

"Of Vegeta?"

"Yes." Her voice was very small. "Of his anger. I'm afraid of what he would do to you!"


	3. A clue! of sorts

I did mention that is a tad off from the show, right? Oh, you figured that out already. Good. I was worried!

Disclaimer: ain't gonna bother

She could see him up at the window, looking out. She waved cheerily, but wasn't surprised not to get a wave in return. Well, if he hadn't seen her this close to his house, a detour was in order. And look, there was a shop right there!

Bra was late again. Bra was always late. Gohan looked down just in time to see a bright blue head disappear into a shop near his home, and grinned. Okay, Bra would be later than usual. He looked back up, out over the city toward the edge. He missed the mountains of his boyhood, the wildness surrounding the small cottage he'd given up. Goten had taken it over, and his twins had done a number on it. A reluctant grin tugged at his mouth, remembering how the two boys had remodeled their bedrooms. Goten had had a fit.

A shrill squeal of delight and his wife's more modulated tones alerted him to Bra's arrival. He glanced at the clock - she hadn't shopped long. Apparently, she wanted to know more than she wanted to shop. He picked up the test results, looking over them.

Bra knocked on the door, pulled it shut behind her. She chewed her bottom lip, looking at the pages in his hand.

"Your little boy is completely healthy," Gohan said quietly.

She flew to him, collapsing in his arms. He held her until she finished crying. "Bra?"

"Yes?" She dropped into a chair.

Gohan tapped the pages on the desk to line them up, then slipped them into a folder. "The results seem to indicate the child is going to be very strong."

"Why would strength in a demi-Saiyan child be surprising?"

"Because…" Gohan sighed. "Do you want to see the tape?"

"Little squiggles. I never have seen a proper picture."

"I used the new technology your mother created. Do you want to see the tape? It's actual pictures."

"I guess." Bra sat quietly while Gohan readied the VCR. Her eyes widened. "It _is_ a little picture. What is that?"

"_That_ would be your son's tail."

"Tail." Her voice was quiet. "Oh, well, I guess I should have expected that."

"Yes, maybe. Pan and the twins didn't have a tail."

She frowned. "I don't understand."

"I'm a demi-Saiyan. My wife is human. Same with Goten and Paris. You are demi-Saiyan. Your child has a tail. That indicates to me that this child takes very strongly after the Saiyan side of the family. He's going to be very, very strong."

Bra blinked. "How strong?"

"Possibly stronger than Vegito."

"You have got to be kidding! How could a baby be stronger than our fathers' fused form?" She'd been raised on those stories, for all her father hated to be reminded of that time.

Gohan was quiet a moment, organizing his thoughts. "This is pure speculation," he warned. "I think it has something to do with the power levels of the parents, plus the mixing of human blood. My father was just an ordinary Saiyan warrior when he had me. A low class one at that," he added, and was rewarded with a grimace.

"Father's favorite complaint."

"Right. But, I'm… I was stronger than the average Saiyan child. Vegeta was a Super Saiyan when he had Trunks, but my dad was a level two when Goten was born. Trunks was stronger than I was, and Goten was stronger than he was. Dad is at level three. As Gotenks, Goten and Trunks both reached level three when they were little. I've never gone past two, and I was young when I learned that. Every Saiyan gets stronger with training, so Trunks and I have gotten weaker, in spite of our previous levels. Our fathers and my brother have all continued training, even though Goten doesn't do as much as he used to. Am I making sense so far?"

"Yes?" She thought she understood.

"All of the demi-Saiyans were born with tails, and I was the only one who got to keep mine. At least, I got to keep it for awhile. I think that's why Pan is just as strong as the twins, for all that their father was a higher level."

"I'm not even a Super Saiyan, Gohan." Inwardly, she trembled.

"You've been seeing Goten, haven't you?"

"You're going to WHAT!!!!!!?" Vegeta roared. Goku stared at the couple on the couch.

"Congratulations! I'll have to plan a shower," Bunny trilled. "How wonderful! I'm a grandma again!"

"Woman! Did you hear what she just said?"

"Of course I did, dear. Now, we have to invite…"

"Congratulations, Goten. Welcome to the family," Bulma said warmly, ignoring her mother's continued planning.

"I'd thank you, but there's one little problem."

"Yes. There is. I'm going to kill you."

"Why? The baby isn't mine." Gohan's mouth gaped at his brother's quiet announcement.

"Not… yours?" Goku stammered. Vegeta froze in mid-strike.

"No. I knew she was pregnant when I started dating her. She told me, because she knew there would be a big scene like this when she finally told everyone."

"Well, then, Bra, who is daddy?" Pan leaned forward, eyes alight. "Trunks?"

"What!!!!" Trunks leapt from his seat across the room and started for Pan. "How dare you!" She yeeped and ran for the door.

"Who is the father, dear?" Dr. Briefs asked.

"I don't know."

"How can you possibly not know?" Vegeta asked scornfully. "Have you had that many partners?"

"Vegeta!" Goku stood. "How could you say such a thing?"

"I don't know who the father is, because I got raped!" Bra snapped. Every eye in the room focused on her. "I got raped," she repeated quietly.

"You…" Goku began.

"Shut up." She turned bright eyes toward him. "I went out afterwards, and wound up sleeping with one of my friends. I don't know which of the two is the baby's father."

Gohan crossed to her, knelt so that only she would be able to hear his quiet voice over the tumult her announcement had made. "Would your friend agree to a blood test, to see if he's the baby's father?"

"I wouldn't ask it of him. Gohan, I know who it was that raped me, but there is no way I would ever let anyone know who it was."

Gohan bowed his head. "I understand."

"Well, I don't," Goten complained, overhearing her answer. "If you know who raped you," the room went suddenly silent, "why not tell us? Any one of us would punish him for it."

"No. I care about him too much to let anyone punish him."

The room erupted again.

"We didn't tell them the truth."

"I told the truth. Just, not all of it." She stroked his face gently. "Can you imagine what would have happened?"

"Not really," he admitted. "Why didn't you want to admit the boy is my child?"

"Goten! You saw how my father reacted." She sighed, looking out the window of her room.

"So?"

"So, I was pregnant when we started dating. Truth, so I said that."

"We started having sex before we started dating," he pointed out.

The door was shoved open. Vegeta forced his way in, fighting against Goku, who was trying to keep him out. Bra sighed again. "Goten, why don't you go on home. I need to talk with my father. And don't worry. I'll let your dad stay to keep him under control." Vegeta froze, Goku released him, and Goten left reluctantly. Bra closed the door behind him, and put a chair on either side of her bed. She took to the bed. "Sit."

They sat, Goku on her left, her father on her right. "I've been seeing Gohan throughout my pregnancy," she started conversationally. "He's been my obstetrician. And he ran a few tests for me."

"Tests?" Goku said. "You mean, needles?" He started squirming in his chair.

"Oh, be quiet, Kakarot. What is your point, girl? What has this got to do with those two men you spoke of?"

"Those two men? Everything. My son, you see, has a tail." She was greeted with blank looks. "Gohan thinks that the baby has a tail because the father is only half human."

"I don't get it," Goku said, at the same time Vegeta cried, "So the child is Goten's!"

"NO! SIT DOWN! SHUT-UP! And stop jumping to conclusions. I know who raped me. I know my baby's father could be you."

"What?" Equally confused faces turned to her. "What do you mean, me? That is preposterous!" Vegeta exclaimed.

"Hmm, let me see." She frowned, gathering her blankets into a bunch. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"Avoiding you?" Vegeta frowned now. "What do you mean, avoiding you?"

"Every time I try to find out what horrible thing you think I've done now, you scream at me to shut-up, then leave in a huff." Vegeta's face had gone chalk white by the time she finished speaking.

"No…" he whispered.

"Blue hair, blue eyes, sore feet ,and a bad attitude. And I was wearing her clothes, her perfume, in a dark hall on a stormy night."

"Gods, no…" Vegeta buried his face in his hands. "No… I didn't!"

"You did. I'm sorry, Daddy."

"Vegeta? It was Vegeta?!!" Goku exclaimed quietly. "So that's why you wouldn't say who it was!"

"That's why." She looked at her father, weeping silently into his hands, his shoulders shaking. "Gohan asked if my friend would be willing to do a blood test to see if he was the father."

"He… will not need to." Vegeta raised a tear-streaked face. "I will… submit to the test. Your friend… did nothing wrong."

"Thank you. He will be delighted to know you aren't mad at him."

"I'm much happier I don't have to have a needle poked in me."

It took a moment. "KAKAROT!!!!!"

Ah, mean me. Now, who shall it be…. And when does Goten find out that the baby really _isn't_ his?


	4. The end

Were you surprised?

Disclaimer: um… hmmm… I thought that was a no-brainer?

Gohan was absolutely speechless when Vegeta completed his stuttered, nearly inaudible request. He blinked several times, trying to get his mind to accept what his ears had heard. "What?"

"I need to be tested for paternity of," Vegeta's throat worked convulsively, "my daughter's child."

"Look, Vegeta, I don't know why you're asking me to do something so crazy. She said there were only two men. One a friend, and one a rapist. You're her father."

"The only other option is to poke a needle in your father."

"WHATTTTT!!!!!!"

"He was the friend."

"Gub bub urrr eh, huh?" Gohan replied intelligently.

"I am the one who raped her." Dumbfounded silence met that statement. Vegeta finally pried his eyes off the floor. "I… mistook her for Bulma."

"How in the hell could you do something like that?" Stupidity was _not_ what the prince was known for.

"She wore her mother's clothes and perfume, and you know she has the woman's temper. I set it off in a dark hallway. Just dark enough not to be able to see the differences. My eyes… are not what they used to be." Vegeta sounded even more unhappy about admitting that there were signs he was aging than that he could have fathered his daughter's son. Gohan took several minutes to blink stupidly while he thought about what Vegeta had said.

"Oh." He pulled out some test tubes, a needle. "Wait a minute. My father? My father was her friend?"

"At least that response was more intelligent than the first one."

(A week later)

"Okay, Dad, just sit tight."

"Can I take the blindfold off now?"

"Not yet. I just have to tighten this down."

"Hey, Gohan, why are you tying me to the chair? What's going on?'

"Hold still, Dad. There!"

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Goku screeched. "A NEEEDDDLLLLLEEE!

"All done." Gohan unfastened his father and pulled the blindfold off.

Goku's wild eyes took in the sight of the needle his son had used on him. A hole appeared in the ceiling - he was too freaked to use Instant Transmission. And he was over 300 miles away before it occurred to him to wonder why Gohan had poked him.

"Vegeta said he was going to take the test. So why did I get stuck? Didn't he do it?" Goku peered at the tiny blood droplet that betrayed where the needle had pierced his skin. "Goten hasn't talked to me for two days, Gohan's been all weird, Bulma and Trunks act like they don't even like me anymore. What did I do to them? Did I do something wrong? Is that why?"

__

:Bra, did I do something bad?:

:?????:

:It's Goku. Did I do something wrong? No one has been talking to me but you, and Gohan poked a needle_ in me!:_

:No. Yes. Oh, I don't know!:

:Are you crying? What's the matter? Can I help?:

:No… you can't help me with this. No one can.:

:Bra? BRA! What are you doing!: The feel from her… it was _wrong_! Goku put two fingers to his forehead, searching for her. "Bra!" Blood everywhere. "Bra! Where are you?"

"Here." He ran to the other side of the bed. "What happened? Do you need a doctor? Why is there so much blood?"

"The baby…" She clutched her stomach, her entire body tightening as she fought the pain and the scream.

"The baby's coming? Now? Isn't it too early?" Goku might not be much good at math (or science, or anything but fighting) but he was pretty sure the baby wasn't supposed to be here yet.

"Early… yes…" she panted. "I couldn't get up… I tried."

"I can take you to Gohan. He can help. I'm sure he can help." He gathered her up carefully, shuddering at how _frail_ she suddenly seemed. "Gohan can help. GOHANNNN!"

"Huh?" Gohan turned, surprised at his father's sudden reentry. "What happened?!! Here, get her on the table. What's going on?" Goku managed to give him a fairly coherent account, for all that he wasn't sure of anything except the simple fact the child was too early. Gohan nodded, made a few tests (A/N: trust me, you don't want to know).

"I think I can stop this. I just need…" He looked up at his father. "Dad, you'll have to leave. I have to get the nee…" His father was gone. "Dles," Gohan finished, shaking his head. "This and this, and this for the pain. Okay Bra, hang in there. Here you go."

The needle he slipped deftly into her arm, plunging the contents in. Three others followed. She went limp on the table.

"Will she be okay?" Gohan looked at the empty dishes in front of his father. "What? I eat when I'm nervous. You should have seen how much I ate when you were born."

"She'll have to stay in bed. There's no way she'll be able to carry that boy to term if she doesn't," Gohan informed his father. "And I can't guarantee he'll be okay - this was a worse shock to his system than to hers. Why didn't you take her to the CC infirmary?"

Goku blinked. "Why? You know what's going on, they don't. And the baby wouldn't have been a priority with them. I know you wouldn't hurt an innocent. I knew you would try to save them both. I knew…" His voice trailed off.

"You knew I wouldn't want my little brother to die."

"Yes."

Gohan settled himself at the table, propping his chin on his hands. "How long have you known, Dad? I found out when I cross-referenced the whatchamajillies on Vegeta. I was going to double-check against yours, just to be sure."

"Whatchamajillies?"

"You wouldn't know what they were even if I used the proper term. Fess up."

"I guess I thought you wouldn't've stuck me if the baby was obviously Vegeta's, which meant he couldn't've been. Besides, his chi is too strong." Goku rubbed at his arm, a childish look of accusation focused directly on Gohan. "I'm never ever going to let you blindfold me again. Not even for a piñata full of candy!"

Gohan sighed. His father was never going to grow up.

"You lied to me."

"No, I didn't. I told you I was pregnant. I told you I got pregnant before we started dating. And if my father hadn't burst in just then, I'd have told you what all those lousy tests your brother made me take showed - that I was pregnant well before we got intimate."

"That's not what I meant. My father, Bra! You had sex with my _father_!"

"I never said I hadn't, Goten."

He looked at her then. She recoiled in near horror, the look in his eyes matched the one in her father's eyes on her birthday. "You said you were my girl. We talked about getting married. I thought… I thought you really loved me." His voice was dull, lifeless. He pulled a box from his pocket, sat it on the bed next to her. "It's yours. I bought it for you. I had hoped…"

Bra picked up the box, opened it. A tiny chip of a diamond adorned the plain gold band it contained. Her eyes closed. "Oh, Goten…"

"Tell me why." The raw pain in his voice made her heart ache. "Tell me why you went to him."

"I was using him." Bra closed the box. "The very night I got raped, Goku found me in a clearing. I was… upset, and he," her face worked as she tried to think of exactly what Goku had done, "he was just himself. I don't know how, but he made me laugh, even after what I'd been through. And he made me forget.

"I'd wake up from nightmares, go to see him in the middle of the night, just to replace those memories with better ones. Ones where I was in control of what happened to me, where I made the choices. And I hated myself for it, but he always made me feel better. I kept going to him because he knew what had happened, and he made me feel better.

"And then… Kami, I was just such a fool. I couldn't stand what was happening, and couldn't bear to sleep alone. I was afraid he would make a mistake again, and I'd have that whole ordeal to live through again… to have to forget again, so I could keep acting like everything was fine and nothing had happened.  
"You kissed me, that day at the pool." She paused, trying to organize her thoughts. "You kissed me. I'd had a crush on you for forever, and you finally kissed me like you'd noticed I'd grown up. It was my dream come true, but my dreams had all become nightmares. I couldn't not see you, I couldn't not love you, and I couldn't stop going to Goku."

"Who is he, that you were so afraid of? Why couldn't you tell me, let me help you? Why couldn't you stop seeing my father?" 

"Goten," she sighed. "What was your first reaction when you knew I knew who it was who raped me? You were set to go beat the crap out of him. I can't allow that to happen, that's why I refused to say who did it. Your father knows who it was, he has helped that man a time or two, _knowing_ what he did to me. You may be your father's son, but no one is as forgiving or trusting as Goku. It took him weeks to help me to see that it _was_ an accident, and to be able to forgive that man.

"I didn't stop going to Goku because he loves me unconditionally. You… you don't. You can't even keep straight who I am. You call me Paris. You called me Paris just last night." Goten had the grace to look ashamed. "But the main reason had nothing to do with any of that. And since I can't tell you who raped me, I can't tell you why. It doesn't make any sense without knowing that one little fact. I'm sorry."

"So am I."

-------

There we go. Everyone knows just as much as they need to. Eh? You want to know her reason? Well, think about it. Her father had just raped her. Goku is a nice, friendly comfortable guy - and he was letting her call the shots. So, she did. Goten? He left to play with his boys - he and Paris reconcile. Trunks and Pan do not get married (yeah, I've noticed that as a popular topic…) Bulma never finds out about what Vegeta did, he eventually divorces her and starts dating Pan (yep, another popular topic) Bulma gets all scandalized, etc., especially since Bra moves in with Goku (and sees a therapist for the rest of her life). The kid takes after Vegeta, but looks exactly like Goku. Now that's scary.

Oh, yes, Goten does eventually learn about Vegeta's role in the affair, and Goku finally figures out why everyone was so mad at him. (He ate all of Trunks' chocolate and drank all Bulma's coffee, and forgot to babysit the twins.) I'm going to run away now so I don't get pelted with rotten fruit or something!


End file.
